When it comes to subscription services like Xbox Game Pass and PS Plus Premium, losing games is as much part of the package as getting access to new ones. However, the specific titles being lost at certain times is sometimes questionable. One recent example was the loss of A Plague Tale: Innocence from Xbox Game Pass in September, just a month before the sequel A Plague Tale: Requiem was released as a day-one game on the service. This time around, it's PS Plus Premium changes that are feeling a bit poorly timed.
PS Plus Premium is losing the original Red Dead Redemption on October 17, which also means it's losing the standalone expansion Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare. Then, on October 18, SOMA will also be leaving the service. PlayStation hopefully makes up for these losses with an impressive list of games coming to PS Plus in October, including one more horror game on the way, but the timing of removing some greatly received horror games right before Halloween is an odd occurrence.
PS Plus Losing Horror Games as Halloween Arrives
Even with great games such as the Yakuza 3, 4, and 5 remasters, multiple Assassin's Creed titles, and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - The Definitive Edition coming to the service in October, PS Plus Premium losing some great horror games during spooky season seems like a tough deal. It's an especially hard pill to swallow considering the range and quality that the two titles in question offered horror fans, with the departing games featuring different experiences.
An expansion to the universally acclaimed Red Dead Redemption, Undead Nightmare gives its take on the genre in classic Rockstar fashion. It's a more light-hearted zombie-horror experience than some other entries of the genre. The premise of Wild West zombies, combined with the signature satirical tone of the developer, makes the game more akin to zombie comedy flicks like Shaun of the Dead or Zombieland as opposed to a hardcore horror experience. That would have made it a great game for anyone looking to get in on Halloween gaming without the stress of something too spooky.
Undead Nightmare leaving PS Plus Premium is especially upsetting news as it's the only way to play the game on Sony's current-gen hardware. Since Red Dead Redemption and its DLC content weren't released on PlayStation 4 and 5, nor are they available via backward compatibility on the consoles, losing it from PS Plus renders it unplayable in the PlayStation ecosystem without access to the now 16-year-old PlayStation 3. Developments like this are part of the reason for the increasing relevance of conversation around video game streaming and subscription services and video game preservation, especially with regard to accessibility to consumers.
Meanwhile, SOMA is leaving PS Plus Premium on October 18, just one day after Undead Nightmare is lost. The 2015 title comes from Frictional Games, best known as the developers of Amnesia. Like other first-person horror games of its time, SOMA puts the player in an isolated setting to solve puzzles while being chased down by unsettling horrors. While it's definitely less scary than counterparts like Amnesia or Outlast, SOMA is arguably a more well-realized game overall when it comes to aspects like gameplay and story. Given the lighter approach of Undead Nightmare and the more classic horror feeling of SOMA, PS Plus Premium's losses are likely to disappoint horror fans of every kind.
PS Plus Is Overshadowed by Xbox Game Pass This Halloween
PS Plus Premium removing horror games like Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare and SOMA is part of a continuing trend for the service in October 2022. While October 18 sees some amazing games coming to the service - including the psychological horror game The Medium - it's been a largely off-theme Halloween month for PS Plus Premium subscribers. This is an especially noticeable trend when considering the difference in titles on the biggest competitor service, Xbox Game Pass.
In terms of day-one releases for October, Xbox Game Pass has already received the H.R. Giger-inspired game Scorn, a first-person survival horror game set in maybe one of the most grotesquely disturbing worlds for a video game. Then, on October 18 comes A Plague Tale: Requiem, a slightly less horror-oriented game that is still suitably spooky thanks to tense stealth gameplay in its grim plague-stricken medieval setting. Finally, the indie cosmic horror game Signalis launches on Xbox Game Pass just days before Halloween on October 27, taking place in an ominous dystopian future.
On a much lighter note, Xbox Game Pass also added Costume Quest in October. It's definitely not a scary game, but the trick-or-treat-themed game brings turn-based RPG gameplay to an adorable family-friendly game, like a Halloween Paper Mario. Meanwhile, PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers also got some additional Halloween goodness in the form of Telltale Games' The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season and The Walking Dead: Season Two. It's clear that Xbox is looking to cash in on the season, offering games for just about every play style of Halloween and horror gaming.
As licenses expire and interests move on, it's unavoidable that games are removed from certain services, but it's still disappointing for PS Plus Premium to be losing spooky games during spooky season, while other services double down on their availability. For now, it seems subscription gaming is the forte of Xbox Game Pass, building its library with regular additions and even acquisitions like Bethesda and potentially Activision Blizzard; while Sony's focus seems to be on adding to its critically acclaimed library of single-player exclusives for PlayStation, such as God of War Ragnarok coming in November and Marvel's Spider-Man 2 in 2023.